Page 112 of The Holy Academy of Witches

I didn’t need to look at him to hear the steel in his voice. I didn’t even want to fight it this time, because if I was honest… I’d want his insight anyways, since Adeline was asleep.

We read for the better part of two hours. Finding out about all sorts of bonds, those of blood, those of twins, bits about combining magic and the terrifying cost… we read until I heard a familiar string of eloquent curses coming from the kitchen.

“Adeline’s awake,” I murmured, my voice now cracking from the hours of reading aloud.

“It’s three in the morning, go check on her for me? Just send me anything you find on life bonds if you read without me.”

“Will do.” I said closing the book with a yawn.

“And Sage?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever considered singing?”

“Not outside of the shower.” I rehearsed the false line, one I’d heard others use with sincerity.

“Let me know if there’s something I can do to change your mind, will you?” He spoke casually, as if he’d already determined there was something in his power to change my circumstances. He was wrong though, unless money could block vision-glowing.

I blushed, shaking my head before hanging up, the sound of his deep chuckle filling the space.

Walking out into the kitchen I found an Adeline sized bundle on the couch. She’d buried herself under two blankets while nursing a hot chocolate. Her gaze went from defensive to tired as she saw who was approaching. It was comforting to know she trusted me enough to look tired.

I sat on the adjacent cushion with my already dwindling supply of chocolate chip cookies mom had sent with me. We were quiet except for the occasional munching and sipping. Perhaps I only imagined it, but the cookies were a bit sweeter and the darkness softer as we indulged, much like the pastries from the night of her trial. I couldn’t quite say when I’d gotten so comfortable in her presence, but I knew I was now, and I was grateful for it. For her. And I think she knew that’s what I meant as I handed her the last cookie. And maybe I knew she was as good as family when she split it in half for us to share.

Fifty-Nine

Adeline

Days later I was still distinctly in a bad mood, Sage had noticed immediately - which I hadn’t yet decided how I felt about, on the one hand it was kind of sweet given we are now supposedly friends, on the other… bit clingy.

I sat in front of my mirror, applying a lipstick so dark it could possibly be considered black, though in the correct lighting it was a deep red. My hands still held a fine tremble when my thoughts were unoccupied. If Sage had noticed she hadn’t mentioned anything, another reason to be grateful to her. There hadn’t been a single mention in the news or on campus of any strange disappearances or bodies being found - besides the now increasingly common terrorist attacks - so I could at least breathe a sigh of relief about that.

After donning my uniform, I walked into the kitchen to make a smoothie, the colour of which one could only describe as that of stomach bile. My gaze caught on a sleeping Dorcas who was sprawled out on one of the leather sofas which occupied a space in the centre of the living room, the kitchen behind her. I commenced chopping a banana, much to her dismay, as I heard a loud and pointed sigh. I swept my black hair over my shoulder, out of the way of my food, and ignored her as I added the ingredients to my blender.

“Hey, Wednesday… If you turn on that blender I will straight up murder you.”

“Firstly, I don’t even take that as an insult,” she groaned dramatically and covered her face with a cushion. “And secondly, it’s morning and you’re in the middle of the living room, not your own bed.”

“I happen to be very hungover actually and it’s” she checked the time on her watch and directed an even more venomous look my way, “— 5am! Seriously Adeline?! You need to get a life.”

“I have a life. It just doesn’t involve rolling in from a party on a school night and then sleeping the day away in a communal living space rather than furthering my academic knowledge.” She gave me a look which suggested I hadn’t even argued her point before rolling back away from me. I clicked on the blender and hummed a symphony I had been working on between lessons.

Dorcas stormed into the room she now shared with Lillian without looking back, though I could feel the hatred pour off her in waves. She would definitely do well in the dark arts if she ever found herself so inclined… though the thought of the current body count from the ongoing attacks was sobering enough that most wouldn’t dare venture into the extremes of magic… dark or light.

I poured my smoothie into a sports bottle and decided to go for a walk, only pausing once to debate asking Sage to join me. Though she didn’t strike me as the fitness type, she did do well in The Run trials. Deciding against it, mostly due to the early hour which - despite what I had said to Dorcas - was actually much earlier than I realised; I set off. My nightmares were tormenting me endlessly, so much worse since Christmas. I refused to believe it had anything to do with Theo, though I also thought of him endlessly - a lack of judgement on my part.

I took a seat on the edge of the wooden jetty, the boards jutted out into the still lake causing a seam in the reflection of the grey sky. My breath clouded around me, the welcome shards of ice tearing into my lungs with each breath. I let my mind wander over the different sections of my composition, the feel of it melancholy, despite the anger I felt with each vibration of my chest. I raised my finger and, using a little magic, wrote the sheet music in a golden light into the air before me. The notes hovered, flaring occasionally, rhythmically, as though nature was playing the music with each gust of its cool wind.

“Oh! How wonderful!”

I turned, seeing Professor Hershaw walking up the pier, her feet clad in some kind of moccasins - no doubt Vegan, were almost completely silent as she stepped carefully from plank to plank. Her strawberry blonde hair fell in a mass of curls around her, escaping a peach coloured scarf tied round her head. The colour clashed horribly, yet somehow it still suited her. She smiled cheerfully as she reached me, her three-legged Labrador cross in tow behind her.

“Good morning, Professor.”

“It is, isn’t it? I love my morning walks with Barnaby. What brings you out here so early? You look a little forlorn if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Oh, nothing…” I looked out across the water, my floating composition fading away.

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